bigruss

My friend just cockblocked my by being too drunk, asshole But he's from out of town and isn't used to campus so I guess I'll allow it

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 04:46 PM) How many more fighter jets, missiles, tanks, etc did we just order? http://www.militaryaerospace.com/index/dis...s-big-cuts.html That money could go a longway in this country. But we as a country cant make decisions to cut off our nose to spite our face. In the long term, I have no doubt that $1bil spent on India will be worth it. When we spend billions to trillions on machines of war, its worth it to spend a small fraction on goodwill. You never know if it will pay off, but we cant just start cutting things just to cut them. Is maybe the spending excessive? Sure, but some spending had to happen, so its the difference between the excess and the non-excess that we have to discuss. I doubt that Obama is spending in excess of 2x what the minimum cost could be, and I doubt that Obama is spending to spend, so there has to be some reason for the expense. I guess I believe that being a diplomat is part of being the President and that through diplomacy we could potentially save far more money in the future. No way to verify, just my belief. Very well put.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 04:42 PM) Right, because this is our one and only shot to make an impression. And a 5 day trip in 2010 is going to make all the difference. I love this attitude that the United States HAS to do x, y, and z or else the world will never talk to us again. When did that start? So when do we start making allies? Right when we need them? I like that idea, wait until we desperately need an ally than ask them to be the ally. That works. How about our foreign relations have been slacking lately, and India provides a much needed friend. Ignoring them could cause problems we dont want (not saying they will hate us, but maybe they won't be so favorable in helping us later). You do realize there is a give and take in foreign relations.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 04:28 PM) Well, ignoring the pissing match that ensued, the original comment was if the number is accurate, 200 million a day is a f***ton to spend on a foreign policy trip. I agree with this, despite the jackassedness of some people in their responses. But frankly, i'd be pissed if it was half that. Sorry, whatever wealth India possesses for the future can wait. That money is much better spent elsewhere. What's worse? 200 million now, or 200 billion down the road because we didn't have this economic/political ally? This shortsightedness has to stop, it's a big reason why were in the economic/political situation we are in now.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 03:39 PM) Whoah, I'm not confirming it as fact. I flat out think it is ridiculous to even come close to spending 200 million. But you know what, when this came out, I damn well want to hear a comment from our white house confirming, denying, talking about it. This number is staggering and you guys are all here either saying it didn't happen or try to defend the actual cost. If this did happen (whether Bush or Obama) and we are spending this much to travel internationally, than as far as I'm concerned we need to take a serious look into how much international travel we want to get our president into. Do you guys realize what 1 billion dollars (5 day trip x 200 million per day) could do in this world. Think about those dollar a day you can feed a child advertisements. It is absolutely ridiculous. So what I want to know is for those of you defending the costs, do you really feel that it is worth it for us to spend this much money for our president to travel abroad? And for those of you telling me and Mike that we are making up s***, I ask, since it made public print media and evidently came from someone with at least some authority in India (whether that is very little or a lot, I'm not getting into that), don't we as citizens deserve to hear and get a straight answer? Personally, until I get a straight answer I will only have to assume that there could potentially be some truth to this. It's a valid point to bring up, and should be answered in some light (how detailed they can get I have no idea). But to take some low-level, county official in India as a valid source is ludicrous. I'm sure the 15th district of Illinois representative knows intimate details on how much it costs for the President to travel. It's all about analyzing the source, and making claims like it is legit. If you want answers, fine, ask the questions! That guy threw out a hypothesis and you took it as fact before it was even proven.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 03:30 PM) One big problem. This isn't the first time people have complained about the Obama administration having excel travel costs. Michelle Obama happened to have a huge trip to Spain where she brought out 40 of her best friends and did everything in 10 star style. A lot of people have speculated how much the government picked up the tab because there are lots of loopholes to that matter. For pete sake people were calling her a modern day Marie Antoinette. And no, that isn't a compliment. When people in this country are struggling to find jobs, etc, I find it ignorant to go flashing around you money and wealth when you are living in a home provided by us taxpayers (the white house). But instead I see people flinging mud at Mike and I and comparing us to Carl Everett (who doesn't believe in dinosaurs). LOL, really? Did you really go there? I was comparing the legitimacy of this argument, on both sides, and you go directly to Carl Everett? That'll really help.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 03:26 PM) Not really seeing it. There is actually articles talking about this being the case and no article saying that it isn't the case. Science is something completely different. There is a lot of evidence available to prove people that science and evolution exists. They just choose to ignore it. No one has shown me any evidence to tell me that I'm being ignorant here. You have some random official making a claim that isnt backed up by anything (no documents, no expense reports, not even any crude math), and people are just accepting it because it's what they want to hear, it backs up their claims or makes another side look bad. The other side dismisses it completely because it has no logic behind it. There is an impasse at all coherent discussion because there is no proof for it, or against it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 03:20 PM) I remember someone on this exact page, maybe in this exact forum ask me when the Republicians were going to quit blaming Clinton. I'd like to hear when the Dems will stop using Bush as a crutch. No matter what gets brought up about Obama, Bush gets brought up to excuse it. I think there is a time and place to bring up past presidents though, and travel would be a pretty obvious choice to compare costs, right? It's not like we have a leak of quality information stating it costs X amount per day to fly the Air Force One, or security costs X amount internationally and X amount domestically. You'll have to look at the reports that we had during the last administration, and hopefully find that both sources are close enough to judge each other by.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 03:16 PM) There is also nothing to prove that it isn't, except your speculation. This is eerie.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 03:07 PM) What unsubstantiated claim am I making? Why don't you please enlighten me. I didn't write the article stating the 200 million and I haven't seen you get off your ass and show me something to prove it wrong. This totally reminds me of religious arguments...

I shouldn't have lived in Texas...

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Nov 2, 2010 -> 04:02 PM) Absolutely. I think finding a good person to cut your hair is one of the tougher things to do. I'm always nervous going to a new place, but once I find someone I like, I won't go to anyone else. Exactly how I am.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Nov 2, 2010 -> 03:46 PM) He'll be on the DL with Jose Gullien and their Flintstone vitamins. Did you really just imply Todd Helton was/is a steroid user?

QUOTE (hitlesswonder @ Nov 2, 2010 -> 03:17 PM) It would be particularly entertaining to hear a fan of the Illini lecture other people about ethics. Alford may be a jackass, but if you compare Iowa, currently and historically, to Illinois...well there's no comparison. Which school just fired its President and Chancellor because of an ethics scandal? Illinois was just to stupid to get caught (and Im not excusing it at all), but it's like collegiate athletic recruiting, infractions happen everywhere, and so does clout. As a student who got in cleanly it does disgust me what the university was allowing to happen though.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 1, 2010 -> 11:37 PM) Very true. I more meant that it was disheartening to see Thome wasn't washed up and being a thorn in the Sox side. Even though Paulie will command top dollar, I'd hate to see him go elsewhere and rake. Like fathom said, he may want to go elsewhere. We may make the decision easy for him if it's not a competitive offer. He may want to try it elsewhere, especially if somebody gives him an extra year or two. This is his final contract of note. To his credit, he had a great contract year. Now he has to cash in one final time. On another note ... would you let Dye come back for a Jones-like contract? Depends on if he's okay with being a DH, and what other options we have. Jones was a good fit because his D would altleast be good, JD would have to relegated to DH.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Nov 2, 2010 -> 12:18 AM) She had some sort of bone disease in her spine which rapidly got worse. Essentially, her vertebrae were slowly disintegrating and she was in a lot of pain the last week so they decided to put her down. Worst part is we adopted her right after my parents divorced, so it's twice as s***ty. Just really tough to handle right now. I dont know if hte slow decline in health is better to deal with than a sudden illness or not, but it is definitely a s***ty situation to be in.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Nov 1, 2010 -> 11:59 PM) I appreciate it. It's just so hard to wrap my mind around since I'm away from home. Finding closure will be tough. I was in a different state when it happened to my best friend's dog that I basically adopted (my mom was allergic so couldnt have one at my house but my friend was a neighbor so I was with him every day). My friend's mom couldn't even tell me on the phone about the news of putting him down, but I knew right away why she called (he had bone cancer and it was known he was going to have to be put down soon). Really sorry for the loss, a pet can really be a best friend.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 1, 2010 -> 11:22 PM) How can they not afford him when they can afford Edwin Jackson of all people?? And to give Teahen money like that?? I said no, because I don't have much faith in our team lately, but I think he should come back at 10 mill a year for 3 years. 30 mill; 3 years. I can't imagine somebody giving him more than 30 for 3. It would be sad to see him walk and have a good year somewhere else. That Thome thing was disheartening this past season and we really need paulie even if he declines a bit which he probably will. There's a huge difference between Thome and the upocming Konerko contract, Thome only got 1.5 million which is nothing, Konerko will get aaround 3/30 and very easily more.

Im probably younger than you, and I still wouldnt expect someone to wait for me if they had a reservation, I guess different upbringings (your opinion on which way is better I guess).

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Nov 1, 2010 -> 07:54 PM) Actually, I kind of do think I have some ground to stand on. See, I have a hearing impairment, so it's hard for me to hear on phones. So I try to save myself the embarrassment by walking in rather than phoning in an appointment. In fact, my hearing is so bad on phones that I need to get someone to help me whenever I need to call the credit card company or any business that has automated answering directories. A lot of people would be surprised by how seldom I use the phone. I probably only make 2 or 3 phone calls a month, and when I do, I usually only call my boss, close friends, or family. So yea, that's why it's very easy for me to get mad. Because here I am, walking in to get a haircut because using the phone is a challenge for me, and just when it's my turn to get my hair cut next, some soccer mom with two kids and an appointment walks in and gets served first. That does piss me off because that feels like a form of disparate treatment or whatever. And just because I'm a walk-in doesn't mean I have more time to spare than someone who was able to call in an appointment because they don't have the disadvantage of having trouble hearing like I do. Why don't you ask the barber when you walk in then if he has an opening? If he doesn't, then you leave and yourenot being surprised by someone who called in advance. There are ways for you to get around not being able to use a phone, they're not always the most convenient but unfortunately you lose slot when you can't use a phone. I just wouldn't get mad at someone who called ahead to set a time. It's like a restaurant, reservations are seated first, walk INS must wait.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Nov 1, 2010 -> 06:57 PM) I always get my hair buzzcutted with razor trimmer size #1. I like my hair as short as possible and it annoys me when my hair gets long enough to have cowlicks or easily messed up from static electricity from my hoodies. I kind of don't know why everyone don't get buzzcuts, it seems kind of silly to me when dudes go to get a haircut and they tell the haircut person that they "only want a trim." Just get your entire head buzzed already! It's much quicker and less maintenence. And one of my biggest pet peeves is when people schedule appointments for a haircut. It pisses me off to no end when I'm sitting in the waiting room, and it's my turn next, and all the sudden some soccer mom comes in with two punky kids that looks like skateboarders with Justin Bieber imitation haircuts and they get served before me just because the soccer mom made an appointment and she's too lazy to just come in and wait like everyone else. I've gotten up and made my dissatisfaction known to the manager at haircut places that do stuff like that and I leave, letting them know that they lost my business because they took people's appointments before serving me despite the fact that I was waiting in the building before they came in. Now I almost always go to SuperCuts because I never got gypped by any stupid reservation policies. I also never go to a barber, I just go to cheap places like SuperCuts because I like the chances of getting a haircut by a hot girl. You know, it gives me a chance to flirt a little. :-p Not every guy looks good in a buzzcut, Im exhibit A. I also don't just get a trim, Im cheap, so I wait a long time to get a haircut and when I do it's a significant amount (I also never do anything with my hair in between in terms of style, just use standard shampoo and conditioner). You really get mad when someone takes the time and effort to make an appointment? That's why they exist, so you have a time reserved. Honestly, you don't have any ground to stand on, walk-ins are for when the barber has open spots, and are worked in around reservations. If the barber passed up a reservation that would lose them alot more business than if they pass over a walk in. And if you're just getting a buzzcut you can go anywhere, hell, you might as well have a friend do it for $5.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Nov 1, 2010 -> 06:48 PM) If you didn't see every AB, then the sample you're pulling from to say he went deep into counts is smaller than the one i'm using. He may have worked deep into a few counts, but it wasn't very often Talent evaluation is different from stat evaluation.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Nov 1, 2010 -> 12:26 AM) Viciedo saw 3.34 pitches per plate appearance, 2nd lowest (Pierzynski) of all White Sox with at least 100 PA Eh, small sample size. I wouldnt mind seeing his minor league number in terms of pppa. I also didn't see him chase too much, but I didn't see every AB.

I've been putting off getting a haircut because I really can't describe what I like (which is sad, because it's a very simple and ordinary haircut) but Ive had barbers mess it up real bad before (I've gotten buzzcuts when I said not too short, and I look terrible with buzzcuts). I have to trust my barber.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Nov 1, 2010 -> 03:55 PM) Do you guys close your eyes when they are washing your hair Yup. Anybody else require the barber use a layering scissors at the end? I have really thick hair and it makes a huge difference.